Trailer: Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison: Living in the Material World
(preceded by an annoying advert)

The day’s news, nuggets and notables. Updated as needed:

[Update: 3:45 pm PT]

Hilary Duff no longer a part of The Story of Bonnie and Clyde
You may remember way back in January of 2009, the former Disney pop-tart was in negotiations to play Bonnie in the film. While the producers are denying she was dropped because she’s pregnant with the spawn of NHL star Mike Comrie, they admit it was because she won’t be available to work until next June. One clearly follows from the other, but whatever. (THR)

Caleb Landry Jones lands male lead in Gemma Arterton/Saoirse Ronan mother/daughter vampire pic Byzantium
He was on Friday Night Lights, played Banshee in X-Men: First Class and had a bit part in No Country for Old Men as one of the kids on the bike who bump into Anton Chigur at the end of the film. (Variety)

(above) Trailer: Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison: Living in the Material World
I ordinarily don’t post trailers that have ads in front of them, and I also usually don’t post stuff that’s TV-related, but this is Scorsese and George Harrison and it’s a pretty good goddamn trailer. (Yahoo)

Djimon Hounsou is the Angel of Death in Alex Proyas’ Paradise Lost
You may recall people freaked out a little when Bradley Cooper was cast as Lucifer, but then they probably never read Milton’s epic poem because he’s perfect. (Variety)

[Update: 1:55 pm PT]

Poster/Website: Martha Marcy May Marlene
The Sundance fav starring Elizabeth Olsen (ok, can we stop referring to her as the sister of the Olsen twins now? What have they done lately?) and John Hawkes (not related to the twins as far as I know) gets a couple of posters (EW) that also function as a giant smartphone QR codes leading you to two new trailers. Check out the film’s official website here.

Miramax to stream 20 titles on Facebook
Pretty sure they’re all already available on Hulu+ and or Netflix. People still use Facebook? (I kid). (Wrap)

Alexandra Maria Lara cast in Ron Howard’s Formula One flick Rush
You may remember her from The Reader, or Downfall (that one that inspired all the cranky Hitler mash-ups), or Francis Ford Coppola’s frustratingly under-appreciated Youth Without Youth, or or or… well you get the point. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) star as 1970s F1 racer James Hunt and Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) plays his rival Niki Lauda. (Variety – firewall)

Some details about the Wachowski/Tykwer Cloud Atlas shoot
For those of you who dig knowing the behind the scenes production falderal of every movie you see. (THR)

Phillip Noyce drops out of Hunter Killer
He says the big budget action thriller was too similar to other stuff he’d done. He’s focusing instead on a love story (Timeless) and another thriller (Above Suspicion). (Moviehole)

You’re not the only one confused by Sean Penn’s role in Tree of Life. So is Penn!
On one hand, I don’t really give a shit what Sean Penn thinks of Tree of Life any more than I give a shit what Terrence Malick thinks of Sean Penn’s overacting in Mystic River. On the other hand, he’s as entitled to his opinion about the movie as anyone and he’s not the first person to have issues with his character. On the other other hand, way to throw your director under the bus, asshole. The thing is, I think Penn’s part and the dinosaurs – the two most controversial aspects of the film it seems – are wholly necessary for what Malick seems to be getting at. (New Yorker)

Woody Allen may follow up UK, Spain, France and Italy with a trip to Germany
The dude is clearly invigorated shooting pictures in assorted European locales and he’s all too happy to go where the money is. Germany seems like an odd fit somehow, but then so did the UK before he made Match Point. (THR)

Atom Egoyan talks a bit about his upcoming West Memphis Three project
The $20 million shoot is planned for this spring. He’s aiming for an ensemble drama surrounding the events of the first trial and not so much an emphasis on the three teenagers. He also says that the recent release of the boys (now men) takes the focus of his film off of whether they’re guilty or not and puts it back on the drama where it belongs. He sees parallels between this story and his earlier film The Sweet Hereafter. And more! (THR)

Disney reveals a few details about their upcoming Pixar projects
Despite a weekend of breathless talk about Avengers snippets and whatnot, nothing really interesting came out of Disney’s big PR blitz in Anaheim on Saturday except a few well-spoon-fed nerds and details about the next two Pixar projects after Brave and Monsters University. Not sure if any of this was common knowledge already, but one of them directed by Bob Peterson is being referred to as the Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs and it supposes what would happen if dinosaurs didn’t become extinct but rather continued to evolve. Pencil this one in for Holiday 2013. The other one is directed by Pete Docter (Up) and it’s called Untitled Pixar Movie That You See Inside the Brain. Pegged for Summer 2014, it’s described by Docter as being about “how we forget, why certain songs get stuck in our heads.” Hmmm… sounds like an interesting short, but a feature? We’ll see. (THR)

4 Responses to “News du Jour: 8/22/11”

Craig, the trailer for the Harrison docu is amazing. I know you’re more of a Stones fan, but man, it gave me chills.

And I agree re ToL: I think both parts are indispensable in the story. I’m surprised that so many people took issue with the dinosaurs, to be honest. It was such a beautiful, awe-inspiring sequence. And I enjoyed seeing Penn stripped away from his usual tricks. Pity he’s not content with the film; he was an integral part of a formidable work of art.

DP, yeah, I love The Stones like no other, but I have to bow down to The Beatles and I’d never want to have to pick just one or the other.

I loved Scorsese’s Shine a Light, but I’d love to see him do a proper doc for them like he did for Dylan and now George Harrison. I know Mick has tons of old footage locked away that Scorsese could make a masterpiece out of.